Many vets with brain injury admit high emotions

Outbursts of laughing, crying mark condition

12:33 PM,
Mar. 26, 2014

The human brain and pain centers.

Written by

Gregg Zoroya
| USA Today

A survey of several hundred veterans with mild brain injury, most coming in combat and from exposure to blasts, shows that 60 percent reported suffering a neurological condition that involves exaggerated emotional responses such as crying or laughing.

"We were a little surprised by the findings for this population," said Regina McGlinchey, director of the Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders at a VA hospital in Boston. "We didn't expect to see that high of a prevalence."

It is possible that many combat veterans suffer from the affliction but do not talk about it, she ...